


After the Twilight, Always a Sunrise

by EffieAgo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Generational Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, but Finn is not aware of just how cross-generational it is, more like implied angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22884619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EffieAgo/pseuds/EffieAgo
Summary: Kix, a medic and a new member of the Resistance, has a secret. Finn is sure he knows what it is. He's (mostly) wrong.
Relationships: Finn & CT-6116 | Kix
Comments: 36
Kudos: 319





	After the Twilight, Always a Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> I just really want Kix and Finn to meet and be bros
> 
> Title from the song "Good Luck" by Broken Bells

The new medic joined the Resistance not all that long after Crait, but while Finn was as relieved as anyone to learn they were getting more medical staff, it was several months before he actually spoke to the man.

“Oh, come on, Poe! If anything, it’s sprained. I’m fine.” He just wanted to get back to work. To keep doing what he could to defeat the First Order. Not be fussed over by doctors and droids. “No medical attention necessary.”

The pilot gave him his most stubborn expression. “That’s not what you said to me after that little fueling station incident.”

“You were actually on fire!”

“Details, details.” They stopped in front of the makeshift medical facility and Poe crossed his arms across his chest. “Right, I’m going back to debrief with the general, but Beebee-Ate is going to wait out here so don’t think you can sneak off.”

Finn groaned. “Fine.”

Poe smiled as he turned away. “Okay, good. Come find us when you’re cleared!”

Although Finn knew Poe was right about the necessity of getting checked out, he always felt a little weird about taking up space, medicine and attention for a minor injury. Sure, they currently didn’t have a lot of sick or injured but he still walked into the med tent was with an feeling of unease.

Of course, he’d be lying if he said it was just the idea of using up valuable supplies that bothered him. All the positive experiences with Resistance doctors weren’t enough to erase the fear that came from his upbringing. Of all the horrible things he’d gone through as a young cadet, the medical examinations had to be among the worst. But he reminded himself as he walked into the tent that this place was nothing like a First Order med facility. The whole thing was cobbled together and cluttered and a lot of the tech was bordering on out-of-date, which he knew was anxiety-causing for many of his comrades, especially the newer recruits from the recently conquered Core Worlds. He couldn’t help but find the shabbiness comforting.

Dr Kalonia gave him a reassuring smile as he explained what had happened and then directed him over to a corner where a man was crouched down, sorting through a bin of supplies. Finn sat down on the padded bench that was being used as an examination table and waited. He knew the man was the new medic, the one who’d been with a pirate crew, although he didn’t know his name. He was a rather ordinary-looking human with short dark hair and Finn didn’t think he looked all that much like a pirate. At least not the ones in the holos. Still, he probably had good stories.

“Um, hello,” Finn said as the medic stood up and looked him over. “I’m Finn.”

“Kix.” The man frowned. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before. When’s the last time you had a complete med check, Finn?”

Finn swallowed. He hadn’t had much in the way of medical care since he got out of the bacta tank following his run in with Kylo Ren on Starkiller Base. He wasn’t about to admit that, though. “Uh. It’s been, um, a while, but it’s just my arm that’s hurt and not badly, so if you’ll just scan it and-”

Golden brown eyes narrowed. “I’ll do that in addition to a full exam.”

 _This was a mistake_ , Finn decided. He waited until Kix turned to a shelving unit to grab a scanner before carefully sliding off the bench.

“Don’t even think about it, trooper,” Kix said as he swung his head around. Then he froze, the words barely out of his mouth.

Finn recovered first. “It’s all right. Not like it’s a secret or anything.”

Kix blinked. “What-”

“I mean, me having been a stormtrooper. I don’t mind you bringing it up.”

“Ah. Right.” There was a pause. “With the First Order.”

Finn nodded. “FN-2187 from FN Corps, but not anymore. I’m just Finn now.”

The other man nodded slowly. “FN. Finn.”

Their eyes locked. Something began to occur to Finn. “Yup, but it was Commander Dameron who gave me the name.”

“So, before that you went by your… designation?” Kix’s tone was carefully flat.

“Yeah, the other guys in my squad mostly just called me Eight-Seven. They all had nicknames, though. Nines. Slip. Zeroes- who, I kid you not, was actually _proud_ of his name. Nobody had the heart to say anything.” Kix snorted and Finn grinned. He was sure now. Kix may have most recently been with a crew of pirates, but he had been a trooper before that.

Finn let the medic conduct the exam and do all the tests he wanted and then fit a brace on the younger man’s arm. The whole time he waited for Kix to open up about their shared past, but the man never did. Well, Finn wasn’t going to push him, but he hoped Kix wasn’t planning on avoiding him. They had something important in common and they should stick together. Finn was certainly going to try to befriend the medic.

Luckily, it didn’t prove too difficult. Over the next few weeks, he slowly began to spend time with the other man. Kix seemed to get along with the others at the base, but he also didn’t appear to have a close group of friends and when Finn started to look for him during meals and on his off shifts, the medic didn’t object. Not even once. So, he kept at it, especially when Poe was off on solo missions and Rey and Rose were busy with training and work.

And then, even more gradually, Kix started to seek out Finn. They would talk about the ongoing war, the strategies being deployed by both sides, and the progress the rebuilt Resistance was making. About Kix’s time with the Crimson Corsair and his crew and the adventures they got up to. About General Organa, who seemed to be the reason Kix decided to get involved in the war, though he’d never met her in person beforehand. That was hardly an unusual motivation for those who grew up after the Galactic Civil War, but Finn wished Kix would open up to him more. Instead, everything in the medic’s life before joining the pirates remained a mystery.

Finn knew he wasn’t wrong about their shared background, though. There was no way Kix was old enough to have been an Imperial stormtrooper, and anyway those guys had joined up in their late teens at the youngest. They had parents and families- and names. He was, however, the right age to have been from one of the earliest batches of FO troopers. And the longer he was around Kix, the surer Finn was that the older man had grown up in that life. That he’d been raised in it. On top of that, the guy was called Kix- a trooper nickname if Fin had ever heard one. He could think of plenty reasons why Kix wasn’t keen on sharing his past, though, so he decided to leave it be until the other was ready.

“Hey, look what I found! Less terrible rations!” Finn smiled as he dropped the packages on the table and then sat next to his friend.There weren’t a lot of other people around yet, but Kix and Finn both had early shifts.

The medic raised an eyebrow as he grabbed one and tore it open. “Twice in one week? That’s showing off.”

“Oh whatever, you’re just jealous.”

“Well, not everyone can sleep with a commander, I suppose,” Kix said, but he grinned and reached over to bump his knuckles on the younger man’s shoulder at the same time, so Finn couldn’t be too annoyed. Still, he caught himself glancing back and forth before he even realized what he was doing. It was ridiculous, of course. Everyone up to and including the general knew he and Poe were a couple. Kix obviously noticed too, because his grin grew. “I might stop teasing you about it if you stopped acting like someone’s going to come over and put you on report for breaking regs.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “You know it’s not easy to just forget that sort of thing.”

Kix looked at him for a long moment. “Yeah, I know.” What they weren't saying hung in the air around them. Finn could feel it. 

Now was the time. “Hey, Kix-” Finn was interrupted by a loud series of beeps. “Artoo! What’s wrong? Oh, that’s all right then. Okay, I’ll come help Rose in a minute.” He turned back to his friend. “Anyway, what I was gonna say was-”

There were more beeps.

“Yes, this is Kix. Of course you know him. He’s been here for months.” But the droid clearly wasn’t finished. Finn sighed, just when they were starting to make progress. “Kix, Artoo here says that you’re-” Finn frowned. He wasn't sure he was getting the translation right. “You’re a very brave soldier, but your… tattoo… is offensive and he… always liked Jesse better. What the-?” Finn looked up in confusion and then watched in shock as Kix bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut.

Finn glared at the droid. “Hey! I don’t know who that is, but how would you feel if I went around saying I liked BeeBee better? No, I am not biased because of Poe! You came over here and insulted my friend, what did you expect? Yeah, go ahead and leave!” Finn shook his head. “That was sure something.” He glanced over at Kix. “Maybe my binary isn’t as good as I thought because that made no sense.” Thankfully, the medic no longer looked to be on the verge of tears. Instead he was staring at the departing astromech droid with a grim expression.

“That’s the general’s droid.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” Finn confirmed. _Weird. Really weird._ He very well couldn’t bring up Kix’s past after that. “Well, guess I better get to work.” He grabbed the mug in front of the medic as he stood up. “Thanks for the caf.”

“Hey, that’s mine!”

“Not anymore, it isn’t. See ya later, Kix!” He waved cheerfully, before turning around and running.

The following days and weeks proved to be increasingly busy, and though the awkwardness of that strange morning faded away quickly, Finn struggled to find another opening for the conversation he knew they needed to have.

Then one evening, Finn was cleaning his blaster in the bunk he shared with Poe when a frantic looking lieutenant rushed in. “What happened? Is it Poe? Rey?”

“No, it’s that medic you’re friends with. Kick?”

“Kix!”

“I'm sorry to have to tell you, but he went out with a small crew on a shuttle to get medical supplies and they were attacked on the way back.”

Finn felt as if he were submerged in ice water. “Is he-?”

“He’s alive and in stable condition, but you should probably head over to the med tent.”

Kix really was in stable condition, Dr Kalonia assured him, but he was on heavy medication for the time being and not yet alert.

Finn spent a few hours at the wounded man’s bedside and he knew he should probably go and get some sleep, but he told himself he would just close his eyes and rest his head on his arms for a few minutes and-

When he woke up, it was to someone flicking his forehead with their finger. “What's this, huh? I’m the injured person. What do you think you’re doing, taking up all the space?”

Finn sat up with a jolt. “You’re okay!”

“Course I am. It would take more than that to get rid of me.” Kix’s voice sounded a bit hoarse and his eyes were a little unfocused, but he was awake. Finn let relief wash over him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, trust me, the meds are working. Major Kalonia gave me the good stuff.”

Finn nodded. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

A small smile. “Thanks, _vod’ika_.”

 _That's strange._ Finn knew the word. It was Mando’a, he thought. It meant sibling? Brother? He’d heard some of General Leia’s Mandalorian friends use it before, but he didn’t remember ever seeing Kix hang out with them. Those were questions for another time. Still, it felt surprisingly good to know Kix thought of him that way. “Just get better, okay? I’ll come back in the morning.”

But as he stood to go, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. “Wait, Finn. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Kix. I know already. We can talk when you’re completely well.”

"You know?”

Finn had to hide a smile. Did the other man think he was an idiot? “Yeah, I do. So just rest. You can tell me all the details tomorrow, if you want."

“Details? That’s easy…” The medic’s voice was slightly slurred. Finn decided that meant the drugs must be kicking in. Time to let him get some rest. “CT-6116, Kix. Field medic. 501st Legion. GAR...” Then the brown eyes fluttered shut and soon Kix was snoring.

Finn lightly squeezed his friend's shoulder and walked out of the med tent, overwhelmed both by relief and by the satisfaction that Kix had decided to finally open up. Even if he had been under the influence. Well, they’d be able to talk everything through in the coming days.

He was halfway to his bunk when it hit him.

Wait. _Wait. ****_

The 501st...? CT?

_GAR?!_

**Author's Note:**

> Finn immediately tries to go back in, but Dr Kalonia won't let him. "What do you mean you need to talk to him about the Clone Wars?? Surely that can wait?????"


End file.
